Cuts ‘heartbreak’ as Salford council goes £4m in the red

Salford council faces a £4m overspend on this year’s budget. The town hall – which is trying to find £25m in new savings for next year – currently has financial shortfalls in its planning, transport, housing and adult care departments, as well as back office areas such as democratic services.

The town hall – which is trying to find £25m in new savings for next year – currently has financial shortfalls in its planning, transport, housing and adult care departments, as well as back office areas such as democratic services.

Mayor Ian Stewart and his team say they are ‘confident’ the books will balance by the end of the financial year. But Coun Bill Hinds said they are facing a ‘heartbreaking daily task’ trying to deliver services with the budget they now have.

A report to the council’s new budget and finance select committee outlines a £4.2m overspend since April.

It includes a £1m deficit on adult services, partly due to the high cost of placing adults with learning difficulties in care outside the city. A high level task force has now been set up in a bid to tackle the problem.

Their report says: "The currently-projected deficit is recoverable. "The mayoral team and corporate management team are determined to address the overspend and have set up a budget action group to ensure that out-turn expenditure falls within budget."

The group is now looking at the town hall’s reserves and speeding up possible future savings in a bid to tackle the deficit.

It says the council is confident their measures will work by the end of the financial year next March. Coun Bill Hinds, assistant mayor for finance, said the town hall is facing the worst cuts in its history – and expects budgeting to get even harder in the future.

He added: " We were praised last year by the Audit Commission for managing to deliver such challenging budget savings. But with services that have already been badly squeezed in the last two years, it’s now a daily battle to maintain the quality and range of services that local people rely on."

He said councillors are going through next year’s budget ‘line by line’, adding: "This really is a heartbreaking task."